I Will Remember You
by Jolyne Jurado
Summary: Gambit gets the shock of his life on a bright, sunny afternoon.
1. Default Chapter

I Will Remember You

            Remy hated going into Westchester; New York City was more his speed.  Westchester was geared toward rich socialites and weekend antique shoppers, not thieves with a need for excitement.  But, New York City was an hour away, even by motorcycle, Westchester was only fifteen minutes away, and Remy was out of smokes.  It would serve his purpose.

            He parked his bike at the corner and unfolded his long, lean frame.  He was not the usual sight in yuppy-ville on a lazy summer Saturday and he knew it.  Dressed in a white tee shirt, faded, form-fitting jeans and a pair of dark shades, his shoulder length, dark auburn hair was held back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck; he smiled at the disapproving glances of the weekend shoppers passing him by on the shaded sidewalk.  He smiled more at the very approving glances of the young women who passed him by.  Remy stepped onto the sidewalk and strolled lazily toward the drugstore, enjoying the warm sun and the cool breeze. It was a blessing to actually have a day in which he could simply sit back and relax.  There were no madmen threatening to destroy the world, no scary ex-wives promising vengeance, and no accusations from his teammates.  It was a day full of promise.

            His thoughts turned to Rogue and his bright mood was temporarily darkened.  He had truly loved Rogue, but the stresses of his past and her inability to be touched had driven them apart.  He was fairly certain that this time they meant it.  They had decided that they would always count on each other as friends and teammates, but that was as far as it could go.  The strain of wanting to be together and never being able to was simply too much.  His gait slowed as these sobering thoughts crossed his mind.  Rogue had been, to his mind, the love of his life.  Losing that was one of the hardest things he had ever been through. 

            He gave himself a mental shake and quickened his step toward the drugstore.  It was a one of those old fashioned places, the kind that was still decked out in its Victorian era dark wood and brass.  The sort of shop that still sold ice cream, soda, and knick knacks to the tourists along with the usual modern day necessities.  He stepped through the door with an accompanying jingle of bells.  He had long since made a habit of surveying the faces of people when ever he entered a room, a habit that had saved his life on various occasions.  One never knows when an enemy might be lurking around an innocent corner. 

            This time he saw no enemy, but what he did see sent a rush of cold blood through his veins.  What the hell was she doing here?  The lady in question seemed to be thinking the same thing; her dark green eyes were as wide as saucers and she had frozen in place with a spoonful of ice cream halfway to her mouth.  He had a sudden flash back to the first time he had seen her.  She had been eight years old, all skinned knees and ponytails.  He had been eleven that summer, tall and gangly, with a chip on his shoulder nearly as big as he was.  Her family had moved into the garden district just down the street from his father's home.  She had shown up at the house one day, simply standing outside looking up at the house in wonder.  Remy had been annoyed by her presumption and banged his way out of the front door to tell her exactly where she could go.

            "You dere!  What you starin' at?"  As eloquent as ever, he marched his way to the little twit and stood over her by a good eight inches.  "You deaf?  I said scat!"

She simply put her hands on her hips and stuck her tiny, pert chin in the air.  "No, I am not deaf… as you so eloquently put it.  I was simply admiring your house.  It has to be one of the oldest in the garden district.  Look at those columns!"  She pointed at the columns in question and then replaced her hand on her hip.  Remy looked over his shoulder at the house and then back at this tiny, odd creature.

"How you know so much 'bout mah house, anyway?" 

"When my mom told us we were moving to New Orleans, she gave us books on the history and architecture."  Again, the proud little chin came up.  "My mom's a historian, she's going to be teaching over at LSU this fall.  She makes us learn about all kinds of history."

He simply stared at her in disbelief.  Most of the kids he knew were children of the Guild.  They played games that taught them the craft of thieving or they might all head out to the swamps to catch fish or snakes, but this little piece of fluff took the cake.  She was staring right back at him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"What's up with your eyes?"

"I's a freak, you got a problem wit dat?"

"Nope.  My folks are freaks. Me and my sister will probably be freaks too. But I'm not suppose to talk about that."

"You talk a lot, you know dat?"

"And you talk funny, 'you know dat'?"

He cocked his head to the side and considered her for a second.  "You wanna come in for some lemonade?"

"Thanks, I'd love some. By the way, my name's Jesse."  She brushed past him and waited by the front door for him to open it for her.  She had followed him around the rest of that summer, pointing out obscure historical trivia and learning what it was to be a Southern Louisiana kid.  He learned a lot about her, mostly because she seemed to never stop talking.  Her mother was a historian who had been doing a summer of archeological work on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota and her father was a full blooded Oglala Sioux who was protesting the digging up of sacred burial grounds.  This very mixed heritage gave both Jesse and her twin, Krys, very exotic looks.  They both had long, black hair, olive complexions, and high cheekbones with delicate sprays of freckles across their noses.  Jesse's eyes were a deep, emerald green while Krys's were a bright, vibrant blue.  Krys did not seem to share Jesse's fascination with all things Remy.  She generally stuck to herself that first summer, unless they were all headed out to the swamps.  

Remy shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs Jesse reappearance in his life had caused.  This was no eight year-old kid.  She was not even the eighteen year-old she had been the last time he saw her.  No, she was a woman fully grown.  She set her spoon down and seemed to be setting her shoulders for battle.  She wore her long, curling black hair pulled back from her face with a simple clip and a long, button down the front dress that hugged her curves.  Time had been kind; he smiled and changed direction to stop by her table.  Was it his imagination, or did she seem to flinch at his approach?  She picked her chin up in that all-too-familiar fashion and gave him her bravest smile. 

"Remy, long time no see…"  Her was voice stiff and formal. Ouch.  He knew they had not parted on the best of terms, but did he deserve that icy tone?

"Jesse, indeed a very long time, non?"  His eyes flitted across the table to notice a short little pixie just about the age Jesse had been the day they met.  She also wore long, dark pigtails, though hers were of a lighter, chestnut hue.  Her big, green eyes gave away the fact that she was her mother's child.  The child arched her brow and gave her mother a curious look.  Remy returned his gaze to Jesse and took note of the absence of a wedding ring. "An' you're a Momma!  I'm happy for you, I know dat's what you always wanted."  He had put on his best happy tone, but the idea of any other man putting his hands on her still gave him that knotted feeling deep in his gut. 

"Yes, well, it was lovely to see you again.  Glad to see you are doing well, now if you'll excuse us…"  She nearly launched herself from the table, grabbing her purse and shopping bags in haste and reaching out for her child's hand.  She headed straight for the exit without looking back.  The girl, however, did look back.  She shrugged slightly and waved, giving him her biggest, brightest grin.

It was then that Remy's world dropped out from beneath him.  The little girl with the chestnut curls and her mother's eyes had just flashed him his own grin. 


	2. Mine All Mine

Mine All Mine

"Hello! Earth to Cajun. Remy, where is your brain today?" Jubilee had it right, his brain was not straight today, nor had it been for nearly a week. Not since that day in the drug store when his world had come crashing down. His child…Jesse had his child. He kept telling himself that there was no way to prove it, that he was just being paranoid, but that picture kept running through his head. The one of the green eyed little girl Jesse had in tow smiling at him with his own smile, the one he had used to charm his way out of countless situations. She had it. And Jesse had kept her from him.

He focused on Jubilee and gave her his most debonair smile. "Jus' thinkin' 'bout what a cute little button nose you got, Petit." She rolled her eyes heavenward and threw a dishtowel at his head. "You are incorrigible, Remy, you know that?" He simply chuckled softly as he removed the offending towel from his face, "So dey tell me, Petit, so dey tell me." They set back to work on cleaning up the kitchen. Everyone took turns in rotation, and tonight just happened to be Remy and Jubilee's night. Remy went back to half-heartedly wiping down the counter when an idea occurred to him. He grinned slyly and turned to his young companion.

"Petit, d'ya tink ya migh' be able ta help me out wit a little… research?" She cast an intrigued glance at him, brows lifted and attention piqued. Remy never asked her for help with this sort of thing, and that sound in his voice promised that it would be sneaky and potentially very interesting. "I take it you want me to help you track down info on stuff you don't want anyone else to know about. Something personal?" She sounded a little too eager, most of the research the Professor had her doing lately was dull, all technical schematics and public record. Remy had to chuckle, "Somet'ing very personal. I need you t'track down an ole friend o' mine." Jubilee's face fell. Great, more dull public record searches. His charming smile returned, "Is not like dat. I wan' you ta use every resource you can tink of… even da shady ones. I need ta know every ting dis friend has been up to for da past eight years. Everyting." Her smile returned, she knew she was suppose to be horrified at the idea of hacking into private records, but this sounded like more fun than she'd been allowed to have in a while.

"You give me the name and birthday, if you have it, and I'll get to work." He wrapped a long arm around Jubilee and gave her a squeeze. "You da best, little one. Her name is Jessa Elizabeth Hawk, but we always jus' called her Jesse…"

It was a nerve wracked two days before Jubilee came knocking on Remy's bedroom door after dinner. He had just stepped out of the shower and quickly threw on a pair of sweat pants before swinging the door open, a towel still draped around his neck.

"Hey dere, Petit. You got dat info I needed?" He tried not to sound to anxious, but he had been walking on pins and needles for forty-eight hours.

"For God's sake, Remy. Put a shirt on. Impressionable youth, remember?" She brushed past him, using the file she held in her hand to shield her eyes. She had a point. His chest was one of his more impressive features. He quickly dried the water from his chest and arms and threw on an LSU tee shirt. Jube plopped down on his bed with an errant thought about just how many women had actually been in this bed and waited for him to sit down across from her. "Okay, where do you want me to start?"

"Jus' start at da beginnin', dat seems t'make de mos' sense." Jubilee flipped open the file and started handing pages to Remy. "Well, you said start eight years ago, so I did. Your friend here was a student at Louisiana State, freshman. She finished her first year with a 4.0, honor student, yada yada yada. Then the next I found about her, she enrolls the following fall at some backwoods community college in South Dakota. Here's were it gets a little weird. She has a baby, that's not the weird part though…"

"What's da baby's name?"

"Huh? Oh…" Jubilee flipped through the file until she came across a photocopied version of a birth certificate. "Vivianne Rose Hawk, January 12…"

Remy hopped up from the bed and began pacing counting back in his head. January… minus nine months. April. Damn her! April. "Hello! Are you listening?"

"Sorry, Jube. What was da weird part?"

"The weird part is that after that, she disappears for about 2 years. Completely falls off of public and private record. And when she does turn up, it's in Europe. Apparently, she was doing some kind of overseas study because she's awarded her degree in ancient history… from Oxford no less."

He chuckled softly to himself; that sounded like Jesse, smart as hell and just as ambitious. Only a girl like her could go from a backwoods hideout to Oxford with a baby in tow. "So what happens after dat?" He was quietly adding up the fact in his head. So far, all of his suspicions were bearing fruit… so to speak.

"Well, she moves to New York City and takes a job in the Columbia history department. Here's her current address and phone number." Jubilee handed over the final paper in the file. Jesse lived an hour away and apparently had been for the past four years. An hour away. Remy put on his best charming smile and looked up at Jube. "T'anks so much, Petit. I don' know how I can repay you."

She stood up, realizing this was her cue to exit. "No problem, Cajun. Though, someday I do expect a full explanation." She stretched up to plant a kiss on his cheek and left his room, closing the door behind her. He sat down on the bed and began riffling through the pile of papers Jubilee had left behind for him. His eyes fell once again on the birth certificate. January… He got up and changed into his jeans and trench coat, grabbing his bike keys from the dresser as he rushed out the door. He revved the engine as he tore out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the highway as he headed toward the city.

His mind was full of memories as he traveled the distance between him and one Miss Jessa Hawk. She had a lot of explaining to do and he fully intended to get those answers, tonight. He thought back to the last time he saw her, so many pieces falling into place.

Jesse had blossomed, it seemed to him, overnight. He had been busy with the Guild, earning his place as a top member. One day he came home from a few months in Paris to find that the skinny little girl from down the street was now a very curvy little beauty. He was always busy with Belle, but he could not help but notice the looks she sent his way as they passed on the street. It was not long before she was dating some of his friends. He always found a reason to have a nice long talk with these young men. A talk to remind them that she was not part of the Guilds, not part of their world, so they had better mind their manners if they did not want to end up on his bad side. Shortly after that, they always seemed to find a reason to leave Jesse alone. Apparently, dealing with her giant hulk of a father and Remy was too much pressure.

Jesse and her sister, Krys, graduated a year early from their high school, the private, all girls' school run by the Church. It just happened that it was the same summer that he and Belle broke it off. If he had not known better, he would have thought Jesse had been waiting for just such an occurrence. She showed up on his lawn, dressed in short shorts and a red tank top, her hair piled loosely on the crown of her head. She was staring up at the house in a manner reminiscent of the day he had met her. He watched her from the window and then made his way out the front door. He walked up to her, still standing over her by a good eight inches, and smiled down at her. "Jus' what do ya t'ink you doin' on my lawn, little girl?"

"Wonderin' why you keep chasin' off all my dates, young man." She smiled deviously and settled her hands on her hips.

"I's not chasin' anyone off. I simply remin' dem dat you no t'eif. Dey need to be respectful." He put on his most serious expression, trying not to watch the bead of sweat that was trailing from the hollow of her throat to the V-neck of her tank top.

She considered that for a few seconds, watching him try not to look at her lustfully. When she spoke, her voice was soft and uncertain. "What if a thief is exactly what I want?"

He was shocked into silence. He had known that, as a kid, she had had a crush on him, but now that she was older, he had simply thought of her attention as innocent flirting. He decided on the most direct course of action. He kissed her. He wrapped her in his arms, crushing her chest against his, and kissed her until they were both weak in the knees. Things progressed naturally from there. They kept their romance a secret. She knew her parents would never approve and he knew that Belle would be in a killing rage if she knew that he had moved on so quickly.

Jesse enrolled in LSU that fall and did well. He was very proud of her accomplishments and she with his, even if she was slightly intimidated by the lifestyle of a thief. It was right after finals that he saw her for the last time. They always met at her off campus apartment. She had prepared a candle lit dinner and they had made love until the wee hours of the morning. He was holding her in his arms, running his palm over the skin of her back, simply listening to her breathe when she sat up slowly and looked down at him, her long hair cascading over one shoulder. She ran a fingertip over his lips and then leaned down to kiss him. "Remy, there's something we have to discuss…"

"I know dere is, Chere." He cupped the side of her face with one hand and looked sadly into her eyes. How was he suppose to tell her about this? His marriage to Belle had been arranged, he could not back out unless he wanted to bring war down upon the Guilds. Her eyes searched his. He knew she was a telepath, though he also knew that she could not read him. For once, he was glad. She turned away from him and snapped on the light, wrapping the sheet around her body.

"Remy, I'm leaving New Orleans. I want you to come with me." She turned back to look at him, her eyes wide and hopeful. "I know this is short notice, but I…"

He cut off her explanation with two softly spoke words. "I can't."

The look on her face was exactly what he was dreading, hurt and more than a little perplexed. "Please, you need to listen. Don't make up your mind until you hear everything."

"Cherie, mah papa gave me da news ta'day. My marriage ta Belle has been arranged. A joinin' of da Guilds. A chance for peace…" His words trailed off as he watched her face go from confused and hurt to positively crushed. He stood up to wrap his arms around her. She backed off sharply and turned from him. It was a full minute before she could speak and when she did, her voice was soft and full of rage.

"You came here, you sat through dinner, you slept with me, and NOW you choose to tell me this?" She paced the length of the room, biting her thumbnail and giving him the deadliest look he had ever seen as she tried to comprehend all of this. She seemed to come to a decision as she walked up to him. "I am leaving New Orleans in the morning. If you want to be with me, you will be here. Otherwise, don't call me, don't look for me, don't ever show your face again. Do we understand each other?"

"Perfec'ly, Cherie…" He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her cheek then turned to gather his clothes and leave. He never came back. He drove by her apartment a few days later to see the For Rent sign posted in the window. He kept his end of the bargain, figuring that he'd hurt her enough, that it was better to let her go completely. Let her get on with her life.

Jesse was finishing her shower. Seeing Remy last week had sent her into a tailspin and she had spent most of the week on the phone with her sister, panicking about what she should do now. Krys gave her some sage advice about getting her panties out of a twist and then promised to return from her overseas trip as soon as possible. Vivianne had been sent off to a friend's house for the night, so Jesse was alone with her thoughts and fears. She decided to put on some soft music and take a nice long, hot bath. Jesse had sat in the bath for nearly an hour, drinking a glass of wine and contemplating history before she decided to just shower off and go to bed. She shut off the shower and slid the door open to grope for the towel she had left on the sink. She was confused; she knew she had left it within reach when she had gotten into the bath. An all too familiar chuckle emanated from the shadows just outside of the open bathroom door.

"Well, well, well. Time has been kin', Cherie."


	3. Secrets and Lies

"Asshole." Jesse narrowed her eyes and peered into the darkness, her hands held defensively on her hips. Water droplets crawled slowly over her skin, pooling at her feet. She seemed to care very little that she was without apparel, her fury stemmed from a much older slight.

"Nice t'see you're still so charmin', Jesse." Remy threw the towel at her and turned to wait in the living room for her. She followed him moments later, mostly dry, though it was obvious that she had missed much moisture in her haste. She had grabbed the clothes closest at hand and rushed to rail at him.

"Where the hell do you get off breaking into my apartment? Just because you can doesn't give you the right!" Jesse had emerged from her room to find him looking at pictures of her daughter scattered across the fireplace mantle. He set a silver framed picture back in its spot and turned to face her with icy contempt in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was tight, soft, and controlled.

"An' jus' because we weren't goin' t'be together means you had da right t'take off wit my chile an' not tell me…" Jesse came up short, the blood draining from her face. She had actually been naïve enough to convince herself this day would never come. The wind taken out of her sails, she walked slowly to the couch and sat on the edge, her hands held nervously between her knees. Remy silently paced in front of the window overlooking the New York skyline. His thoughts were a jumble, his heart racing. She had not denied it; she simply sat there, looking pale and cornered. After what felt like an eternity, he turned back to her.

"What were you t'inking, Jesse? Was dis my punishment? I wasn' gonna be wit you, so you decide to leave wit'out tellin' me?" It did not add up, Jesse had never seemed to be that kind of person, vindictive, conniving, but there were few other explanations that made sense. Why deny a child both parents just because they were not married? Granted, Belle would have thrown the master of all hissy fits and his father would have wanted to drown him in the swamps, but he would have been there for his kid. Jesse had no right to keep him and Vivianne from each other.

"Remy, you were about to marry another woman. I knew you didn't love me, not the way I loved you." She said slowly, her voice small and sad. "You were fond of me, but I was just fun to you, a good friend with the fringe benefits of a good roll in the sack."

"What does dat have t'do wit anyt'ing? We weren't in love, we weren't gonna be married, so what? Doesn't change da fact dat she is my chile and you took her from me! I never promised you anyt'ing, Jesse." He was furious, pacing like a caged animal. She looked up at him, her eyes flashing.

" I went into that relationship with my eyes open. Don't think I was some simpering little brat waiting for you to grace me with your attention. Yes, I had hoped that you would fall in love with me in time, but I knew there were no guarantees. But when I found out I was pregnant…"

"When you found out you were pregnant, you shoulda come t'me! You shoulda let me be a father t'my own chile. You shoulda thought 'bout someone besides you! What 'bout Vivianne? Doesn't she have da right t'know who her father is?" Remy stopped pacing in front of where Jesse sat and looked down on her. She had been his closest friend at one time, yet she had still done this. It gave him the sick feeling deep in his gut that he had never really known her at all.

"I could not stand by and watch you build your life in the Guild, with Belle, and simply be a footnote to your story. I needed better for me and better for my daughter." She stood up to face him. Jesse was not about to sit still and let him brow beat her for doing the best she knew how to do for her own kid. She had been the one taking care of this child by herself for eight years and she was not about to sit there and take it anymore.

"Better? So now I'm not good enough. One minute you say dat you loved me, da next I'm not good enough for you or your chile. Make up your mind, Jess. You can't have it both ways." He moved away from her, the urge to throttle this woman an intense burning in his gut. Better to walk away than to give himself yet another source of guilt.

"I hated the Guild, Remy. I could not bear the idea of my child being raised a thief, for all I loved you, I needed better for her." She was now the one contemplating the mantle. Jesse reverently rearranged the silver framed pictures, telling herself that she did it all out of love for this child, that the hurt she had caused and endured was worth it all for a better life for her.

"So a t'ief was good enough to sleep wit, but not good enough to raise your chile? Did you ever stop t'think dat maybe I wouldn't ask you t'raise her a t'ief? Maybe I would have respected your decision? You seem t'have a very low opinion of some one you say you loved." His voice was biting and acerbic. He could not get past the feeling that Jesse was simply punishing him for not loving her the way she wanted him to. The idea that he was somehow unworthy of his own child, in Jesse's opinion, was a great gaping gash in his pride.

"I am not going to stand here and do this with you all night, Remy. I made the best choices for myself and my child that I knew how to make at all of eighteen years old. Maybe they weren't the best or the brightest, but I did the best I could. You can rant and rail all you want. Hell, you're probably right about a lot of it, but I can't change any of it." Her defiant If-I-Give-An-Inch-You'll-Take-A-Mile chin came up and he knew that she had planted her feet for battle. It was a brave face to cover the internal battle going on in her head. The reasons had seemed so sound when she had made the decision nearly a decade before, but confronted by the hurt and anger in his eyes, it all seemed a bit pale. Things had seemed so black and white that night, confronted by the idea of raising his child in the same city in which he shared a bed with another woman, leaving without telling him had seemed the perfect escape. Suddenly, various shades of gray were apparent and she knew she would be paying for that decision for a long time to come.

"So you t'ink saying dat you can't change da past is gonna make dis all go away? Not by a long shot. Y'see, Jess, I can't just walk away now." He stepped closer to her, the violence he wanted to do her gleaming in his odd eyes. "I fully intend on being in my chile's life. And if dat means I get the extra added pleasure of making you pay, den all da better."

"Oh, that's great parenting. 'I'm going to a be a great father to my kid, let's torture her mother right in front of her!' And you say my logic and reasoning is off." She rolled her eyes heavenward and walked away from him. Jesse was trying to be casual and dismissive, but she knew damn well he could find ways to make her pay.

"Oh, don't you worry, Cherie. Vivianne won't see anyt'ing but a happy family. And as a good mother, I'm sure you would never tell her any'ting dat might upset her, now would you?"

"You mean like telling her that her father is a thief? No, I wouldn't dream of it. She knows nothing about you, Remy and I intend on keeping it that way. We don't need or want you. When she's old enough to make that decision on her own, I'll tell her where to find you, but for right now, I don't want you within a thousand miles of my kid." He came at her in a flash. She had the odd sensation that she should have remembered how fast he could move when he was angry. Remy had her in a firm grip by her throat, not a hard squeeze, but a grip meant to pin her in place so he could look her in the eye.

"I don' recall askin' you what you wanted. You've had enough of what you wanted. Dis ain't about you, dis is about me and my chile. Mine. So you better tell her some'ting soon, because now we're playin' by my rules." Her eyes narrowed on him.

"Are we really?" A fist came up and connected with his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to release her. As he fought to regain his breath, she spun and connected the top of her foot to the back of his knee, dropping him to his back. She stood over him, glaring furiously into his eyes.

"Don't you ever, EVER, try to manhandle or intimidate me again. You might be bigger, you might be stronger, but I will kill you if you lay a hand on me again." She kicked him in the side, forgetting yet again how fast he was. He grabbed her foot and yanked, sending her down to the floor with him. He made a quick move to grab her wrists and rolled to pin her beneath his weight.

"Now, now, now, Jesse, you used to like it when I laid my hands on you. Da little girl in question is proof of dat. But don' you worry. I don' take well t'sleeping wit common lyin', sneaky..."

"You seemed to enjoy sleeping with Belle well enough." She hissed at him and wriggled to free her arms. He growled at her and set her loose, not entirely trusting himself not to actually harm her at his point. Jesse rolled away and sat up on her knees, watching his every move. Remy stood, straightening his trench and brushing the errant lock of hair from his eyes.

"Okay, so we're gonna get nowhere like dis. You can' shut me out of dat little girl's life. Whether you like it or not, she's my daughter too. Get used to it, Jess. Daddy's home."


End file.
